Forum: VetsCoR

The classic M16A1 was the iconic rifle of the Vietnam War. It was issued to the vast majority of U.S. soldiers during the conflict, and it’s general success in combat led to its continued service in the U.S. armed forces in varied forms over the years. And of course it wasn’t too long before the M16’s popularity translated to the civilian market as well.Luckily, earlier this summer at the 2016 NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits in Louisville, Kentucky, Colt teased the release of a reproduction, semi-auto-only M16A1 that faithfully replicates the look and features of the original, Vietnam-era rifle....

A young Marine killed in the bloody World War II Battle of Tarawa has finally been brought home and has been laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. Pfc. Wilbur C. Mattern was 23 years old when he was killed on November 21, 1943, the second day of the three-day battle to take the atoll back from the Japanese. He was found earlier this year by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), whose function is to search for missing American servicemembers around the world, identify them and return them home for proper burial with honors. Mattern was buried on the...

Benjamin Bergen is the author of the book: “What the F: What Swearing Reveals About Our Language, Our Brains, and Ourselves.” “It turns out that there are amazing things you can find out about how the mind works, how the brain works, people’s human sociality just by looking at profanity,” he explained. The professor of Cognitive Science at UC San Diego said cursing could be linked to higher intelligence. “It turns out that on average, the ones who swear the most also have the biggest vocabulary overall,” Bergen added.

In a shocking move, Army officials have confided in Soldier Systems Daily that they plan to abandon the Camouflage Improvement Effort that has left Soldiers without an effective camouflage pattern despite several years and tens of millions of dollars.

VETERAN ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION Please understand what this network is all about, then figure out how to be an asset. In order to get this off the ground without venture capitalists buying equity and taking control, we need to create a highly efficient team and crowdfund the money ourselves. A highly efficient team doesn’t need a leader barking orders and handing out tasks to followers who are waiting to be told what to do. It needs a group of highly motivated and proficient individuals who understand the mission and intent, and work together to accomplish the mission. If you don’t know...

Here is the official response I got from USAA on their NFL sponsorship: Thank you for your response. USAA is proud to serve as the Official Military Appreciation Sponsor of the NFL, and our sponsorship is a reflection of our mission and commitment to serving the military community. We have no plans to end our role as the Official Military Appreciation Sponsor of the NFL. The NFL provides a great platform through which we can raise awareness about and appreciation for America's military and their families. We are proud to work with great players like Army veteran and Pittsburg Steeler...

Perhaps it was the way he carried himself in an unassuming and humble manner, but day after day hundreds of Air Force Academy cadets would pass this janitor in the hall oblivious to the greatness that was among them. In the mid-1970s, William Crawford might spend one day sweeping the halls and another cleaning the bathrooms, but it was a day approximately 30 years prior that would create for him a special place in the history of war. In 1943 in Italy, the only thing Private William Crawford was cleaning out was German machine gun nest and bunkers.Under heavy...

The House voted 310-116 Wednesday to arm the Department of Veterans Affairs, exclusively among federal departments, with tougher employee “accountability” tools to punish misconduct and better protect whistleblowers. It’s the latest political fallout from the patient wait time scandal of 2014 and multiple smaller investigations into misbehaving VA supervisors and staff that have become the primary focus of the House Veterans Affairs Committee under chairman Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) who is to retire January. The VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act of 2016 (HR 5620), introduced by Miller in July, would provide new authorities for VA to withhold financial...

American service members are petitioning for the return of beards to the US military, with their petition now containing well over 10,000 signatures. According to the petition page “Beards for Military“ on change.org, the writers of the petition call for the return of the long-gone tradition of tasteful facial hair on service members, citing a boost in morale. “All I want is to be able to grow a beard,” the petition reads, as penned by Ed Beebe. “I want to grow long locks of love on my face that will make me feel like a manly man. It is...

I have found a heavy, maybe silver chain, man's bracelet that has the word "SCHWERENNOTER" then the persons name on a flat plate between the chain. It also has July 25 72. On the underside it says "Yankee Kraut Pact" On the underside it also has this: Na IT PH 2 SB 2 TA PA I SB 2 TA ATT Can anybody help me with this? Or maybe suggest were I might be able to get information

Quote from a WWII veteran overhearing someone say that `You can't bomb an ideology." "The hell you can't. Because we did it. These Muslims are no different than the Imperial Japanese. The Japs had their suicide bombers too. And we stopped them. What it takes is the resolve and will to use a level of brutality and violence that your generations can't stomach. And until you can, this shit won't stop. It took us on the beaches with bullets, clearing out caves with flame throwers, and men like LeMay burning down their cities killing people by the tens of thousands....

A telemarketer called and asked me to donate. They want me to send my payment to PO Box 44260 West Allis WI. I looked up the website and they are located in Washington D.C. Another google search brought up a story by the Washington Times showing the CEO driving away in a Rolls Royce. Other searches state this is the worst place to give donations. Please provide any info you have. I have donated to them is years past but something here just doesn't feel right. Thanks in advance.

TOMBSTONE — Nelson Mitchell drew cheers and salutes from spectators lining Tombstone’s Allen Street, as he waved to the crowd from the back of an antique convertible. Mitchell served as grand marshal for the eighth annual Salute to the Buffalo Soldiers parade on Saturday, a celebration that commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Buffalo Soldiers and honored Mitchell, the last African American survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor. “He’s a celebrity,” said Charles Hancock, president of the Southwest Association of Buffalo Soldiers, an organization based out of Sierra Vista. “He was clearly the star attraction for today’s ceremony and...

The nation’s leading veteran services organizations are rallying behind the Department of Veterans Affairs and its beleaguered health care system, touting the experience of staff, the breadth of services and its holistic approach to care delivery that they argue the private sector cannot match. The VSOs are warning of politicians and groups with agendas that constantly criticize VA health care, refuse to acknowledge reforms and thus advance a camouflaged campaign to dismantle VA health care. They also say it is time to better educate their own members on actions being taken to improve to the healthcare system that millions of...

NORMANDY BEACHHEAD, June 12, 1944 – Due to a last-minute alteration in the arrangements, I didn’t arrive on the beachhead until the morning after D-day, after our first wave of assault troops had hit the shore. By the time we got here the beaches had been taken and the fighting had moved a couple of miles inland. All that remained on the beach was some sniping and artillery fire, and the occasional startling blast of a mine geysering brown sand into the air. That plus a gigantic and pitiful litter of wreckage along miles of shoreline. Submerged tanks and overturned...

NORMANDY BEACHHEAD, June 16, 1944 – I took a walk along the historic coast of Normandy in the country of France. It was a lovely day for strolling along the seashore. Men were sleeping on the sand, some of them sleeping forever. Men were floating in the water, but they didn’t know they were in the water, for they were dead. The water was full of squishy little jellyfish about the size of your hand. Millions of them. In the center each of them had a green design exactly like a four-leaf clover. The good-luck emblem. Sure. Hell yes. I...

NORMANDY BEACHHEAD, June 17, 1944 – In the preceding column we told about the D-day wreckage among our machines of war that were expended in taking one of the Normandy beaches. But there is another and more human litter. It extends in a thin little line, just like a high-water mark, for miles along the beach. This is the strewn personal gear, gear that will never be needed again, of those who fought and died to give us our entrance into Europe. Here in a jumbled row for mile on mile are soldiers’ packs. Here are socks and shoe polish,...

In Memory of a Fallen Comrade I write this in memory of one we left behind, MSG William B. Hunt, U.S. Army Special Forces, MIA, November 5, 1966. It is an account of the sacrifice he made to his country, to his comrades, and to the Vietnamese people. In November 1966, SSG Hunt and I served together at Special Forces ODA Camps under Detachment B-32, 5th Special Forces Group, Tay Ninh Province, in the Republic of Vietnam. Hunt was with ODA-322 at Camp Suoi DA, and I was assigned to ODA-323 at Camp Trai Bi. Our camps were about 30...

As they review the Defense Department’s latest plan to raise TRICARE fees and co-pays, particularly for working-age retirees and their families, key congressional panels are asking what beneficiaries can expect in return. Faster appointments, more evening clinic hours, more physicians spending more time seeing patients and more base hospitals operating at full capacity were some answers given this week by military healthcare leaders. Perhaps the most important commitment came from Dr. Jonathan Woodson, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, who said he, along with the new director of the Defense Health Agency, Vice Admiral Raquel C. Bono, and the...

After seeing FOX News commentator Bill O'Reilly's efforts to help severely wounded United States military veterans regain their mobility with all-terrain track wheelchairs, Richard Hotes was so moved by the gesture that he decided to help. Hotes Foundation volunteers created an obstacle course and, with the help of injured veterans, tested more than 10 types of track chairs. When none of the vehicles met the veterans' expectations, volunteers chose the best available option and worked on a complete redesign with the chairs' manufacturer. After a year of development and testing, a suitable track chair was created and Hotes Foundation volunteers...

on hold with the VA for almost a full hour post op complications, maybe neighbor said my wounds are warm, they are all asking me to go to ER VA finally answers. I was so angry, I told her I was waiting 55 minutes for someone to answer the phone, what is going on?? she said, "Do you need any help from me?" I said, "I am not sure, I think I might need to go to the ER." She said, "Well, then, just go." Didn't want to discuss symptoms with me at all, anything about my condition, nothing to...

Mr. Trump mentioned at the end of the program that he had posted in the lobby a list of charities to which the money would go. I am very glad he said he was being careful about which organizations were chosen to ensure the funds go to benefit veterans. So the question, can anyone find a copy of the list to post? . . . I think it would be great information to get out publicly.

During an appearance on "Fox & Friends" Sunday morning, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump was asked what his New Year's resolution is for 2016. "The big picture is to make America great again," Trump said, "but we have to help the veterans. Veterans are being treated horribly." Watch Video here...

At a local cemetery and at the grave site of a American pilot, Captain Michael Scott Speicher, a veteran of the (Golf war of Iraq); who was the first pilot shot down in the, Operation Desert Storm, and his remains were found in the Iraq about 18 years later. I sing A-Capella the hymn, Revive Us Again, written by; John J. Husband. This video is only 1 min. 33 seconds and I believe to be informative. A flock of geese from Canada, stopped to rest and eat.

(This is the first visit at Scott's resting place) I stopped at a local cemetery and at the grave site of a American pilot, Captain Michael Scott Speicher, a veteran of the (Gulf war; Operation Desert Storm Iraq); he was the first pilot shot down and his remains were found in the desert of Iraq about 18 years later. I sing A-Capella the hymn, Down At The Cross. At the beginning and end of this video a flock of Canadian Geese stopped to rest and eat.

Again at the local cemetery and at the grave site of a American pilot, Captain Michael Scott Speicher, a veteran of the (Golf war of Iraq); first pilot shot down and his remains were found in the desert of Iraq about 18 years later. Beginning and end of this video a flock of Canadian Geese stopped to rest and eat. The shot hymn in this video is; ( Hallelujah Thine The Glory ).

The Night They Gunned Down Santa Claus by Chet Lynn There's strange things done 'neath the Vietnamese sun but the thing that locked my jaws was the night 'neath the moon, the third platoon gunned down Santa Claus. It started off right just another night, you had to spend in the dirt, security was out, .360 about with fifty percent alert. We had 81s and naval guns our tanks were track to track, an ontos or so an arty FO with barrages back to back. I froze where I stood 'cause out of the wood eight horses came charging along,...

I stopped at a local cemetery and at the grave site of a American pilot, Captain Michael Scott Speicher, a veteran of the (Golf war of Iraq); he was the first pilot shot down and his remains were found in the Iraq about 18 years later. I sing A-Capella the hymn, Down At The Cross. At the beginning and end of this video a flock of Canadian Geese stopped to rest and eat.

Editor's note: All flags on the Navajo Nation will be flown at half-staff until June 8 in honor of Nez. Nez's public viewing will take place June 9 from 5-8 p.m. at French Mortuary, 10500 Lomas Blvd. NE. A mass will be held June 10 from 10-11:30 a.m. at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, 4020 Lomas Blvd. NE. A graveside service will be held at the Santa Fe National Cemetery from 1:30-2:15 p.m. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Chester Nez, the last original Navajo Code Talker, has passed away in his Albuquerque home. Nez was recruited with 28 other Native Americans...

INDIANAPOLIS - Over 1,000 well-wishers have turned out for the funeral of a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who died with no family to plan his final arrangements. There was an overflow crowd at the Lawrence United Methodist Church Tuesday morning for the funeral of Billy Aldridge. He died last month at the age of 80 at a local nursing home. When WTHR shared Mr. Aldridge's story on our Facebook page, the response was overwhelming, with thousands of Facebook fans sharing the post and commenting. Legacy Funeral Home asked the public to help give him a dignified funeral. Turnout is...

I have worked for the VA for quite a number of years, and I have taken care of countless veterans into their finals hours and then some. I was always touched by the post mortem procedures that the VA had in place. Upon the pronouncement of death and after the family has had ample time to say goodbye, the nursing staff is to prepare the body for transport to the morgue. After preparation, the body is transferred to the morgue's gurney, the lid is placed on top. A black canvas backed shroud cover is arranged over the lid, and an...

Paul Delmont Bunker (May 7, 1881 â€“ March 16, 1943) was an American football player and soldier. Bunker attended the U.S. Military Academy and became the first football player at West Point to be selected as a first-team All-American by Walter Camp. Bunker was chosen as an All-American at the tackle position in 1901 and repeated as an All-American in 1902, but as a halfback. He served in the U.S. Army for 40 years and was in command of the coastal artillery forces in the Battle of Corregidor. On the fall of Corregidor, Bunker became a prisoner of war. He...

Winter 2003, Vol. 35, No. 4 American POWs on Japanese Ships Take a Voyage into Hell, Part 2 By Lee A. Gladwin Brazil Maru The Brazil Maru passes through the Panama Canal on March 26, 1940. Nearly five years later, it carried Allied POWs. (185-CZ-Vol. 51-Brazil Maru) The Brazil Maru and the Enoura Maru: Finishing the Journey into Hell On December 27, the prisoners at San Fernando boarded the Brazil Maru and Enoura Maru and sailed for Takao, Formosa, part of the TAMA #36 convoy, bound for the POW camps near Moji, Japan. Landing craft ferried them from the pier...

Winter 2003, Vol. 35, No. 4 American POWs on Japanese Ships Take a Voyage into Hell By Lee A. Gladwin Oryoku Maru The Oryoku Maru under attack at Olongapo, Luzon, December 14â€“15, 1944. (Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, RG 38) John M. Jacobs had been in Manila when the Japanese captured the Philippines in the early stages of World War II, and now, in 1944, he was a prisoner of war, or POW, in the Bilibid Prison in Manila. There, he and other American and Allied POWs were often forced to do heavy labor. With...

1927 Class Cullum No. 8056 â€¢ Jan 21, 1945 â€¢ Died in POW ship This obituary is written with the consoling feeling that hundreds of contemporary West Pointers, who, knew Moe Daly, will sympathize with the difficulty of placing his lovable and striking characteristics in cold print. Maurice Francis Daly was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on July 20, 1901. That his Irish immigrant parents, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Daly of West Hartford, Connecticut, knew how to rear children, is borne out by the facts that our â€œMoe" graduated from Connecticut Agricultural College before entering West Point; his sister, Katherine (Mrs....

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has announced burial dates for four Korean War soldiers whose remains had previously been identified and returned to their families. To be buried with full military honors are: • Army Cpl. Grant H. Ewing, 28, was buried Oct. 19 in his hometown of Fort Lupton, Colorado. Ewing was assigned to Battery C, 38th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, which was deployed north and east of the town of Kunu-ri, North Korea. It would be later learned he was captured by Chinese forces, but died in a POW camp in February 1951. • Army Cpl....

Henry Henley Chapman No. 5733, Class of April 20, 1917. Killed in action September 29, 1918, at Cambria, France, aged 24 years. Captain Henry Henley Chapman, of the class of 1917, U. S. M. A., was killed in action, in France, September 29th,. 1918. He fell on the field of honor while leading his men over the top in the first wave of the great attack of the Thirtieth Division that broke the Hindenberg line at Bellicourt, about four miles north of St. Quentin, and where the St. Quentin Canal enters the tunnel. The 30th was operating with the 4th...

Emory Jenison Pike No. 4066. Class of 1901 Died of wounds near Vandieres, France, September 16, 1918, aged 41 years. Emory Jenison Pike was born in Iowa, December 17, 1876, and appointed from that state to the Military Academy in 1897, graduating with his class in February, 1901. His first service was in the 2d Cavalry, which he joined at Matanzas, Cuba, returning with it to the United States in December, 1901. After two years at Fort Myer, he sailed with his regiment via Suez for a tour of Philippine service. His next station was Fort Assinniboine, Montana. Promotion to...

Clay Bonnyman Evans knew all there was to know about his grandfather though the two had never met until that moment under several feet of crushed coral rock on a remote island in the Pacific. Evans was polite when requesting the anthropology brush he would use to sweep some of the dust from his grandfather’s remains when they were found in May on the Tawara Atoll. “My whole life I grew up with that medal on the wall and the citation,” Evans said, holding back tears. “He’s always been my hero.”

(CNN)—The Army this week selected the company to build its much-anticipated new vehicle to replace the Humvee -- a multibillion dollar contract. Oshkosh Corporation, located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, won the $6.7 billion contract to produce the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, which will also be used by the Marine Corps. The initial order will be for 17,000 vehicles, with production set to begin next year. The Army expects to have its first JLTV unit ready to go in fiscal year 2018, according to a release from the Army. Oshkosh beat out two competitors for the final contract: defense giant Lockheed...

Does anybody know why this website has been suspended?: www.first-team.us/legacies/cmdunits/1cd_arty The First team website was the largest source of detailed information about the 1st Cav Division. Larger by far than the division association site. The question is why was it suspended? Too politicaly incorrect?

NORVELL TWP, MI -- Rick Briggs has always been involved in charity work to help veterans, but when his son came back from Iraq with post-traumatic stress disorder, he knew more needed to be done for veterans. "A lot of guys put a gun in their mouth because they don't have hope, they don't have a purpose," Briggs said. "They need both hope and purpose to move forward." So, Briggs partnered with other volunteers to bring a shared dream to life. The 137-acre campsite of Camp Liberty, once finished, will feature a welcome center able to house a large family...